One of the things authors have to do is think about the questions people might ask when they are speaking before a group. I have prepared what I think might be typical questions, some of which I’m posting here. I’m NOT giving you the answers I would give. What I want is for YOU to give ME the answers. Of course, you don’t have to answer all of them. Just one that interests you or something you’ve been thinking about. And if you have any questions not listed here you think are relevant, let me know. There is no need to repeat the entire question in the comment box. Just write in what number the question is. Here goes…

1. Isn’t thinking about death unhealthy and depressing?

2. Isn’t fear of death normal? Isn’t survival our strongest instinct?

3. Why should we worry about the afterlife? We’ll find out soon enough.

4. If there were life after death, wouldn’t science have discovered it by now?

5. If everyone is forgiven for their sins in the afterlife, what motivation do we have to be good now? Why don’t we just commit crimes or kill each other?

6. How can you be sure that heaven and hell don’t exist? Isn’t that what the Bible teaches us?

7. What happens to people who commit suicide?

8. In your book, you claim that we choose when we die. But who really wants to die?

9. How can I overcome my grief?

10. If there were such a thing as reincarnation, then why don’t we remember our past lives?

11. How do we know that afterdeath communication is not just wishful thinking or fantasy?

12. Isn’t communicating with the dead dangerous?

13. I hated my father/mother/brother and was happy when he died. If he shows up do I have to communicate with him?

4 Comments

Julie DrewMarch 3, 2012 @ 3:25 am

Julia, I had a “death experience” when my son was born. No tunnels of light or anything, but rather a feeling of total well-being and serenity (while I could hear the nurses shouting and equipment pulsing). It’s left me with a lot less fear of just about everything. Not that I want to die just yet, but I do often wish I could recapture that feeling of wellness and wholeness.

I also don’t think I would ever do the heroic things people do to stay alive–killing all their white blood cells and such. Seems to ma a little obscene to use so many medical resources when we are already so endowed with the things that cause folks in other places insuperable problems. (I worked in Bolivia for a time where kids routinely died of diarrhea, brought on by tainted drinking water.)

I don’t mean to sound soupy, but I think the experience gave me perspective I’d lacked.

Wow! Yes,there are all kinds of Near Death Experiences and they have been frequently reported during birthing. And that feeling. I know exactly what you mean and have written a lot about it in the book. I call it an Infinity Moment–when everything falls into place. No more questions, perfect safety. An experience like that stays as a reference point for the rest of your life. And you’re right, without it your life, your sense of life purpose and your global pespective would likely have been less expanded than it is now. We feel something like that in deep sleep. Remember certain mornings when you are half awake and feel so safe, warm and delicious you can’t bear to get out of bed and break the spell? That’s it. It must be what cats feel when the purr. That’s what I want, for you, for me, for everyone on the planet, more and more of those experiences until they become dominant in our lives.

Bravo on your work in Brazil. When you have the time, write to me about it. There’s a place on the website Tell Me Your Story. I would want to know what it was like for you witnessing that constant death.

1. Isn’t thinking about death unhealthy and depressing? Used to be – faith and engagement can give meaning, but those who had some kind of after-life experience first hand deal better with this.

2. Isn’t fear of death normal? Isn’t survival our strongest instinct? Yes, it is – because we do not know *exactly* what lies beyond.

3. Why should we worry about the afterlife? We’ll find out soon enough. Because it may affect deeply our choices in the here and now.

4. If there were life after death, wouldn’t science have discovered it by now? No. Science is structured around other issues and, if most scientists had to question this, a big deal of them would quit what they were doing.

5. If everyone is forgiven for their sins in the afterlife, what motivation do we have to be good now? Why don’t we just commit crimes or kill each other? Because there is something called “natural religion”, which was given to every single man – both the Bible and the Qur’an support that. We instinctively know when something is wrong (if you are not a sociopath or something of the sort).

6. How can you be sure that heaven and hell don’t exist? Isn’t that what the Bible teaches us? The Bible, like every other cultural artifact, get a glimpse og the world beyond based on the world their authors knew. My guess is that Heaven and Hell may well exist for those who believe in it – but other “beyonds” may exist for other believers. It is a dangerous guess, but maybe the world beyond is *built* in a very concrete sense here and now.

7. What happens to people who commit suicide? That depends on their religious expectations.

8. In your book, you claim that we choose when we die. But who really wants to die? Many people. The disgusted, the impaired, the depressed – the list is endless. And as for the rest, many would not want to eternal watching others die and the world change around them.

9. How can I overcome my grief? Honestly – by getting in touch with the deceased person, especially if it was a very much loved one.

10. If there were such a thing as reincarnation, then why don’t we remember our past lives? Because it would be useless – circumstances change so much even in the course of weeks that I do not think what I believed in one life would do me much good now (unless we are talking about technical stuff, like learning languages etc.).

11. How do we know that afterdeath communication is not just wishful thinking or fantasy? Because there are plenty of examples where the best explanation is that there had to be some sort of communication with the deceased, while fraud and wishful thinking can be discarded.

12. Isn’t communicating with the dead dangerous? I suppose it is – not everyone is gofted for that. But then the same goes for driving a car or operating machinery.

13. I hated my father/mother/brother and was happy when he died. If he shows up do I have to communicate with him? I surely hope I can have some choice on that – to meet my dad immediately and to never, ever, under any circumstances meet my mother again, God forbid.

Vicente! I read your answers with astonishment. How much you have thought through these issue is tremendous. I agree with you on most points. One, however, I want to address because I don’t agree is about reincarnation. Statistically we do remember our past lives up until the age of about 7 until we are more enculturated NOT to believe these memories. For various reasons, which now that I think about it, I should make into a blog post, pastlife memories are bullied out of children. I remember it happening to me. If we did remember the perhaps hundreds and more reincarnations each of us has had, just think what a service to the world that would be. We would remember being rich and poor, being male and female, being victim and attacker, being black and white. Prejudice would not survive this, nor would hate and self-loathing. Once we get the hang of it, we could go on to remember FUTURE reincarnations. Mine is not so much a memory as it was a full-blown trance experience. In the timeless world of our greater consciousness, remembering the future is as accessible as remembering the past. And both exist wrapped in probabilities.

I must say that I am very glad to have met you through the internet. And am very grateful for the time and thoughtfulness you put into your reponse. Very stimulating.